Moving Catalogues to a Different Folder.

Question

In backed up and restoring a PSE6 catalogue from an XP based PC to my Vista based laptop I chose the Restore to New Location / Maintain Existing Folder Structure option and both the catalogue files and the picture files were successfully created in my main Pictures folder. The new catalogue was recognised in PSE6 and all files and thumbnails seemed to be connected. However, in retaining the original folder structure I had inadvertently created a lot of unwanted subfolders from the old XP address and the cataloguing info was not in the default /Program Data location where my other catalogues reside. I therefore decided to first move the cataloguing files, and tried to use the Catalogue / Move command for the purpose, thinking, erroneously as it turned out, that this would move only the cataloguing files, and I could then eliminate the unwanted subfolders in my picture file structure by a subsequent drag and drop approach in PSE6.
I am not aware of having given any advice in the Catalogue / Move process as to a destination folder for the move, as it never asked, but it seems as though both cataloguing and picture files were moved by the command to the Vista default /Program Data location. I'm not sure whether I asked to make the catalogue available to all users or just myself when asked,but think it was probably the latter. The move resulted in all of the thumbnails in the catalogue becoming disconnected from the picture files, and I then carried out a Reconnect All process which has worked for all but a handful of files.
The problem is that whilst I can see the picture folders I've moved in the Folder View within PS6, and most seem connected to the catalogue thumbnails, I cannot find them, or indeed the /Program Data folder that they sirt inside, by searching outside of PS6. It is as if they don't exist, or are hidden from Windows Explorer. All of the old picture folders have also disappeared when I look at the Folders View within PS6, except for those that contained the few picture files that are now disconnected (and these are greyed out). I could try to drag and drop the new folders back to Pictures within PS6, or try to delete the catalogue and files entirely, and begin the restore process again, but I don't want to worsen or confuse the situation further until I understand what is going on.
Help!

Answer 1

Are you sure you have enabled viewing 'hidden files' in the explorer ?
http://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/global/show-hidden-files-folders-extensions.html
gardener179 wrote:
If I try it again I will follow your advice when moving the catalogue to the default location. (but can you be more specific regarding what comprises the restored catalogue files (ie are they all inside one PSD folder, or are there other folders that sit alongside it?).
Suppose you have a backup folder named 'MyBackup'.
When you restore it to a 'custom' location, you state or create a destination folder on any drive. Let's call it 'My Restaur'. When the restore is complete, you get a new folder 'My Restaur' in which you find a subfolder named 'My Backup' = its the catalog ; along with other subfolders in the same structure as they were in the original folders.
The catalog folder contains :
(PSE6 test catalog)
To get rid of the unwanted folder heirarchy transferred from XP when restoring to a New Location but retaining Old File Structure would you suggest dragging and dropping the Folders in PS Folder View or some other process?.I gather I must do this from within PS to avoid having to reconnect all the files.
Yes, moving folder trees by dragging them in folder view to 'shortcut' unwanted subfolder stages is ok. I don't like it very much because I don't know what would happen if you had a power shortage during the process... But if you have still the backup, that would be good. For a big catalog, be patient, but there would be no need to reconnect.